GUIDELINES FOR RESOLVING SCHEDULING CONFLICTS
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A UNIFORM STANDARD FOR THE RESO-
LUTION OF SCHEDULING CONFLICTS BETWEEN AND AMONG THE STATE
AND FEDERAL TRIAL AND APPELLATE COURTS OF NORTH CAROLINA THE
FOLLOWING GUIDELINES ARE HEREBY ESTABLISHED:
1. It shall be the duty of counsel, other than solo
practitioners, to have another member of the firm reasonably
well acquainted with the case to the end that, where practicable,
substitution of counsel may be made in order to avoid conflict.
2. In resolving scheduling conflicts the following
priorities should ordinarily prevail:
a. Appellate cases should prevail over trial
cases;
b. The case in which the trial date has been
first set (by published calendar, order or
notice) should take precedence;
c. Criminal felony trials should prevail over
civil trials;
d. Trials should prevail over motion hearings.
e. In resolving conflicts between the several
divisions of the North Carolina General Court
of Justice, the provisions of Rule 3, General
Rules of Practice for the Superior and District
Courts, shall control.
3. In addition to the above priorities, consideration
should be given to the comparative age of the cases, their
complexity, the estimated trial time, the number of attorneys
and parties involved, whether the trial involves a jury, and
the difficulty or ease of rescheduling.
4. It shall be the duty of an attorney promptly
upon learning of a scheduling conflict to give written notice
to opposing counsel, the clerk of all courts and the presiding
judges, if known, in all cases, stating therein the circumstances
relevant to a resolution of the conflict under these guidelines.
5. The judges of the courts involved in a scheduling
conflict shall promptly confer, resolve the conflict, and notify
counsel of the resolution.
6. If the judges of the courts involved are unable
to resolve the conflict they shall so notify the chairman of
the State-Federal Judicial Council of North Carolina. The
chairman and vice-chairman of the State-Federal Judicial Council
of North Carolina shall then resolve the conflict.
7. Nothing in these guidelines is intended to prevent
courts from voluntarily yielding a favorable scheduling position,
and judges of all courts are urged to communicate with each
other in an effort to lessen the impact of conflicts and con-
tinuances on all courts.
ADOPTED by the State-Federal Judicial Council of
North Carolina on this the 20th day of June 1985.
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